Chapter 4

“Aunt Caroline, if you cannot behave civilly, you will no longer be welcome here,” Jake said in the same gentle tone.

She gasped. “What?”

“You heard me well enough.”

“How dare you speak to me that way? You’re nothing but a disrespectful brat. If your mama and daddy had taken the switch to you like I told them to, you’d have learned how to treat your elders.” She shot a look of pure hatred in Damian’s direction, and then ran quickly back into the house. The eerie quiet of the house and yard was broken by the sounds of her loud wracking sobs and then a door slamming inside the house.

Jake closed his eyes, looking completely miserable.

“Hey, Jake, I’m going to take off. I didn’t mean to cause any family squabbles.”

Jake turned to him. “You didn’t. It’s not your fault. Are you going all the way back to Birmingham tonight?”

“No, I have a room in a hotel in the next town over.”

Jake nodded. “Can I come by later to see you?”